DP-E Duo PROP Emulsified oil

volvopaul said:
Seal on input shaft is a one way seal so allows water into drive when the bellows fails , strip drive , renew shaft seals and gearshift seal , input shaft seal , flush out all emuls oil Before your bearings fail .
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If I currently had the capability that is indeed what I would do. I don't and there are no professionals who are willing or able to do the job in the short term, unfortunately.

Having assesed visually (not ideal I know) I'm going with replace clips, flush emulsified oil, fill with good oil and arrange a full leg service at end of season.

It curtails any great usage over the summer but I wont get that anyway whilst it's sat on the hard waiting for a mechanic.
 
sniffer said:
If I currently had the capability that is indeed what I would do. I don't and there are no professionals who are willing or able to do the job in the short term, unfortunately.

Having assesed visually (not ideal I know) I'm going with replace clips, flush emulsified oil, fill with good oil and arrange a full leg service at end of season.

It curtails any great usage over the summer but I wont get that anyway whilst it's sat on the hard waiting for a mechanic.
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hm, wonder how long the bearings will last, even with low usage in emulsified oil :unsure:
 
I had hear several years ago that the jubilee clips supplied with the bellows were of inferior quality and prone to failure. As a result I purchase my own S-Steel jubilee clips and reuse those for a few seasons. I dont know if the issue has been resolved or if it was just lore spread by internet rumour but if yours broke this may well be an instance of such. Was there any corrosion on the worm drive or clip itself?
 
simonfraser said:
hm, wonder how long the bearings will last, even with low usage in emulsified oil :unsure:
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Not long I would imagine but the oil isn't now emulsified. Obviously a risk but whilst the oil was emulsified it wasn't watery. As the failure of the clip allowed water ingress and the seal is only one way, with the replacement of all the clips (with Volvo parts), hopefully the cause of the emulsification is now gone. A risk but I'll get a lift before the end of the season and see what things look like.

In the meantime I research the servicing requirements and maybe tackle it myself when the time comes.
 
Surely the only way water can get into the gearbox is failure of the drainplug , prop or gearshift seals ?
Hose clips snapping and allowing water into U/J bellows or exhaust is different (and another) problem.
 
oldgit said:
Surely the only way water can get into the gearbox is failure of the drainplug , prop or gearshift seals ?
Hose clips snapping and allowing water into U/J bellows or exhaust is different (and another) problem.
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drive shaft to the UJ has a seal on too, so if it is getting into the bellow it may get into the outdrive via the shaft seal
 
Can anybody tell me which specific seals I would need? Maybe on Keypart? Getting the drives off sould be within my capabilities.

volvopaul said at post #19 'renew shaft seals and gearshift seal , input shaft seal' but I have no idea what I would need to order.
 
'There was some corrosion. Maybe the guy that serviced them did not use Volvo parts but the parts came from Keypart. I have replaced all the clips with genuine Volvo.'

why are you looking at keyparts again ? #20

i am being picky, but if you have never done this b4 you will need v carefull handholding by the likes of Bruce etc otherwise you risk ruining a couple of drives ....
 
simonfraser said:
'There was some corrosion. Maybe the guy that serviced them did not use Volvo parts but the parts came from Keypart. I have replaced all the clips with genuine Volvo.'

why are you looking at keyparts again ? #20

i am being picky, but if you have never done this b4 you will need v carefull handholding by the likes of Bruce etc otherwise you risk ruining a couple of drives ....
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Yep!
I had a clip corrode in a year with parts supplied by Keypart. I continue to use them and others to keep down the cost but never again with bellows bits.
 
simonfraser said:
'There was some corrosion. Maybe the guy that serviced them did not use Volvo parts but the parts came from Keypart. I have replaced all the clips with genuine Volvo.'

why are you looking at keyparts again ? #20

i am being picky, but if you have never done this b4 you will need v carefull handholding by the likes of Bruce etc otherwise you risk ruining a couple of drives ....
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I have never done 'this' before but I have carried out many engineering tasks including seal replacement. As stated at the start, I would prefer an expert to do the work but it doesn't frighten me. I will just need to do the research and ask for help if and when I need it :-) Thanks for your concern though.

One major concern about doing the work as a novice is that I could replace the seals very sucessfully but still not recognise something else that was amiss.
 
One replacement DP-E drive is £10,089.60 including VAT.
It's something to bear in mind when working on these things,

Running with oil that will become emulsified is sort of okay at low loads for a short period of time, trundling up the harbour at 1000rpm etc. for a few weeks if it's only a small amount of water.
But there is a longer term effect of what happens if more water gets in and messes up the bearing sets.
Also the gear teeth faces won't be as well protected from wear at higher speeds / loads.
Once the case hardening on the gear teeth goes, metal shavings appear, and things go rapidly downhill from there.
 
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BruceK said:
I had hear several years ago that the jubilee clips supplied with the bellows were of inferior quality and prone to failure. As a result I purchase my own S-Steel jubilee clips and reuse those for a few seasons. I dont know if the issue has been resolved or if it was just lore spread by internet rumour but if yours broke this may well be an instance of such. Was there any corrosion on the worm drive or clip itself?
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I also suffered a corroded and subsequently broken clip. I managed to find some Titanium ones on eBay, completely non-corrodible in seawater, problem solved.
 
A personal reflection. :)
Sometimes the thought of doing the job can be worse than actually doing it.
An hour on Youtube could be good place to start.
Having a "plan" is a good idea.
Trust me, you really really want the help of a mate to get those legs off and if you are still mates afterwards, to get it back on. Lining up those U/J splines with the jackshaft is pig of a job for the amateur mender.
First day. boat out of the water, clean worst of gunge off legs, look at oil in both gearboxes and for any glaringly obvious problems.
The really keen might get the props off, check for damage and get them away by courier ( or drop off) to be fixed if required. If the start of the season this might cause the biggest delay.
Day Two
Start with the leg needing most love and attention . Inspect this one first, can the required work be done with the leg in situ on the boat or has it got to come off anyway, ie bellows replacement.
Remove one or both . The experienced/keen might do repairs onsite, others might want to get the outdrive(s) back home on the bench. Grovelling on your knees in a windy yard under the hot sun/pouring rain does tend lose its attraction after a while.
Order up bits. You will invariably find further work needing more bits as you progress, just accept this as fact of life.
Anticipating what you think you might need and ordering stuff in advance, means you will end up with loads of little bits in your garage you will never use ever.
Days 2- Infinity. Start repairs............................

One other path is to find a outfit who will refurbish those legs. You take them off and drive half way across the country in vain attempt to at least get the work started.
WARNING.
This course of action could result in more angst than doing any of the above.
Myriad forum tales of woe regards poor workmanship or outdrives vanishing into some short of outdrive limbo for months on end and apparent refusal for the company/ bunch of cowboys concerned to pick up the phone.
Some folks have had no problems at all and are very happy with the results.
You pays your money. :)
When the boat was sold these outdrives had over 3500 hours on the clocks.
 
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simonfraser said:
drive shaft to the UJ has a seal on too, so if it is getting into the bellow it may get into the outdrive via the shaft seal
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It will because the seal is a single lip , it only stops oil escaping , water inside the bellows will push against the seal and be allowed to enter the gear case .
 
Was there water inside the bellows? If there wasn't the leak would be elsewhere. You need to vacuum test as well as pressure test to find leaks. Laser do a tool that will do the job.
 
sniffer said:
Thanks for all the comments. Trying to get a 'professional' to do the job here in the short term is impossible it seems.

The viscosity of the oil seemed ok, not ideal and it is a concern as to where it eminates from but I think I will refill with new oil (I've been flusing the milk all day) and wait until September for a full leg service.

I'm not going to be doing many hours or any heavy loading so based on the state of the oil I should be ok.

The other alternative is to tackle it myself, so I'll do some 'Googling' tonight. Anybody know of an online servicing manual for the DP-E?
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I have an electronic manual, it's too big to load here, PM me and I'll send it on to you (y)
 
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